A conventional shoe utilizing a shoelace, has rows of eyelets on opposed flaps overlying a tongue. The shoelace is threaded back and forth from one row of eyelets to the other. When the end portions of the shoelace, protruding through the endmost eyelets remote from the toe of the shoe, are pulled, the flaps are drawn toward each other by tension in the portions of the shoelace bridging the gap between the flaps. The end portions are then tied, typically by forming an overhand knot and a bow. Usually the bow is one that can be released simply by pulling on one of the ends of the shoelace. A more secure bow can be formed by forming two loops in the sections of lace extending from the overhand knot and tying the two loops in another overhand knot. Various other shoelace tying techniques are known.
With the exception of some very skilled magicians most people need two hands to tie a satisfactory shoelace knot. This means that individuals who have lost the use of one hand through injury, because of a stroke, or as a result of some other cause, cannot tie shoes by themselves. Young children also lack the manual dexterity to tie their own shoes, even with two hands.